Nicky Zimmermann was fresh out of fashion college when she began designing clothes in her parents’ garage. While selling her creations from a stall at Paddington Markets in Sydney, she was featured in Australian Vogue – soon, orders came in from boutiques across Australia.
It was the first hint that Nicky’s passion project could be a commercial phenomenon, and Nicky’s sister, Simone, did not overlook the opportunity. In 1991, the sisters agreed to work together to expand the budding fashion brand. It was the beginning of a journey that would see the business grow across Australia and the world, opening stores in New York, Los Angeles, Milan and London. The brand would show several years running at Paris Fashion Week, and be worn by celebrities such as Margot Robbie, Kate Middleton and Kendall Jenner.
It is a success story that has only gathered speed. In 2023, Advent acquired a majority holding in ZIMMERMANN with the aim of accelerating expansion into growing markets in Asia and the Middle East. More than 30 years since Nicky first set up her market stall, ZIMMERMANN is an increasingly powerful voice in the fashion space, offering a distinctive vision of sophisticated femininity.
Vast opportunities to explore
Simone, who serves as Chief Operating Officer, joins us from Sydney looking suitably chic in a flowing navy and cream dress bearing the kind of recognizable, delicate prints that characterize the brand. She explains that international expansion was always the goal of the business.
“We’re proudly Australian,” she says. “We are headquartered in Sydney, and our home country has shaped who Nicky is as a designer. But, as Australians, we admire the rest of the world, and we were always excited to work internationally. We felt we had something unique to offer.”
The first ZIMMERMANN store was in Darlinghurst, a district of Sydney, followed by others across the country. In 2011, the brand opened its first store in the US – in Beverly Hills. The first European store was in St Tropez. Simone says there are still vast opportunities to explore as the international expansion continues.
“We have more than 20 stores in the US but there are still so many opportunities to grow,” she says. “There’s space in Europe, too. We’re about to open our first store in Germany. But the new regions on the cards are Asia and the Middle East. We opened a store in Dubai in April 2024 which has been fantastically successful. We have two stores in China and two are being built. We have Australasia covered, but we’re not yet present in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea or Japan.”
As COO, Simone is focused on facilitating this international expansion without losing the company’s entrepreneurial spirit and special character. But she believes there is plenty of opportunity to open more stores “without overexposing ourselves”.
Proud heritage
Simone believes ZIMMERMANN’s success owes, in part, to its strong Australian heritage. Although the country has a proud heritage of art and design – including both European and Indigenous Australian art – its physical distance from the established fashion capitals of the world meant that in the brand’s early days, “we were able to hone our skills out of the limelight”.
That meant ZIMMERMANN could develop at its own pace, without the demanding pressures that can affect designers in Paris or Milan who are branded the “next big thing”.
On the other hand, she says, the lack of a big fashion ecosystem in Australia meant the brand had to be resourceful. “We’ve had to build our own methodologies. We’ve created our own way of doing what we do.”
Nicky, who, as Creative Director, is heart and soul of the brand, agrees that ZIMMERMANN’s Australian heritage is central to its identity – and to her own approach as a designer.
“The lifestyle and environment here in Australia have always influenced my personal style – and by extension the vision for the brand,” she says. “I grew up by the water in Sydney. Like many Australians, I spent much of my childhood outdoors. The influences from my personal experience can be very literal, such as using Australian botanical prints on a garment, or it could be emulating the mood from a television show I watched growing up.”
Nicky is convinced ZIMMERMANN’s popularity is linked to a bespoke freshness and sincerity – and a uniquely Australian approach to life.
“I think beyond the visual references and memories linked to our roots, a large part of our authenticity comes from our attitude. It’s so important to me to be optimistic and to have a good sense of humour – two very Australian traits.”
A private equity partner
ZIMMERMANN is a family business. The CEO is Chris Olliver, Nicky’s husband, who has worked alongside Nicky and Simone in a long-standing partnership that combines the strengths of family with good commercial judgement and mutual respect.
The family has carefully selected its private equity partners. It was important to share common values, alongside a capability to support the company’s growth internationally, as the family retained a material stake following its majority sale to Advent in 2023.
“For us, partnering with private equity has been very successful,” says Simone. “We’ve been able to identify great partners. The relationship with Advent has been really positive and supportive. The Advent team is actively contributing to what the long-term future is for us. In addition to that, they bring a world of connectivity that we’re able to pull on when we want to. The team who work with us are very diligent, experienced people. It’s great fun to work with people who are excellent at what they do.”
The worlds of high fashion and private equity might appear to be very different environments, she says, but there are more similarities than you might think. Ultimately, the success of both depends also on financial metrics.
“Ours is an incredibly creative industry but at the same time we’re merchants. It’s all about beautiful products, our clients, and being successful in terms of sales.”
Harmony between extremes
ZIMMERMANN is continuing to build out its product range. The brand, known for its elegant, flowing dresses, is expanding into other product lines.
“We’re currently focused on growing new product categories – our footwear, denim, jewellery and eyewear – which is a big point of excitement for myself as a designer,” says Nicky.
These new product lines will be produced in the signature ZIMMERMANN style, which Nicky characterizes as a harmony between extremes of expression.
“Our vision is always about striking a balance, which plays out equally through our exploration of prints, materiality and silhouettes each collection,” she says. “For example, we might pair a very soft washed floral print with crisp, masculine tailoring.”
Both sisters agree that the future is exciting, even after a more than 30-year journey with some memorable milestones.
“Moving to show at Paris Fashion Week was an exciting step, although it felt a bit intimidating at the time,” recalls Nicky. “Now, two years into showing, it’s starting to feel like we’re in a real rhythm – we’ve expanded our Paris team to have a design studio, which has been really beneficial to have that cross-pollination between there and Sydney.
“Recently partnering with Le Bon Marché to open a pop-up was a completely new experience,” she adds, “and a great push for us to think about how we can deliver the ZIMMERMANN experience to our clients in a really engaging and fresh way. We have all of these kinds of moments along the way where we step back and think, ‘Wow, this is amazing’, but then it’s always followed with – ‘What next?’”
